Earlier this year, I wrote that teams once wore uniforms that were not always uniform, and went on to discuss and show images of teams with the interlocking logos the well-funded once wore.
Today, I want to focus on the “not uniform” part, which was more typical of the underfunded than those with the big bucks. Some university teams displayed a lack of uniformity before 1900, at least some of those out on the prairies. The 1895 Iowa State team below had Pop Warner as its coach, but lacked uniforms, nonetheless.
University uniformity also went lacking when teams went the friction strip and oval route. Initially, only the backs and ends wore the strips, but other times the budget did not allow outfitting the entire team in the latest fashions, so some wore new stripes and other the old gear.
However, the height of inconsistent uniforms occurred among high school teams before WWI, especially those in small towns. Since the schools did not supply their uniforms, everyone wore whatever they could get their hands on. The image below is a favorite recent acquisition. I don’t know who they were or where they lived, but they wear a mishmash of gear, with no two players donning the same combination.
Six, or half of them, have nose guards dangling around their necks. Two wear head harnesses, one has a flathead helmet, and the rest do without.
All football pants in the c. 1910 era were made of canvas or moleskin, were difficult to clean, and came only in earth tones. Seven of the twelve have cane or ribbed thigh pads, four have quilted pants, and another (wearing the white stocking cap) appears to have more modern pants that accept independent pads, though he appears to go without. The guy standing fourth from the left wears pants with pads sewn on the front of the hips, a seldom-seen look.
Finally, the black-and-white image does not tell us whether everyone wore a sweater in some shade of red, blue, or whatever the school’s color, but we can assume they tried.
While plenty of high school teams wore uniform uniforms, many others wear a mishmash of gear. The following images show groups of small-town fellers who cobbled together the best outfits they could and then played some football.
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This is a cool history.
That 1895 Iowa St team looks like it has some serious super-seniors..